


Prepare for Takeoff

by MrMissMrsRandom



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Bonding, Gen, He is only Mostly Terrified, Hubert Goes Flying, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:55:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23332735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrMissMrsRandom/pseuds/MrMissMrsRandom
Summary: Hubert approaches overcoming his irrational fear and childhood wish the same way anyone would: reluctantly.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	Prepare for Takeoff

“Professor, once again, I must ask you to reconsider your arrangement for this week’s supply run.” Hubert stared down at the shorter Professor Eisner, attempting to convey as much menace as possible, while his hands sweat under his gloves. 

But their face remained taciturn. “Everyone else has been sent out or completed their tasks, Hubert. And Petra cannot do the supply run by herself. She needs someone watching her back.” 

Ah, another push towards ridiculous cooperation. However, he nodded. “Very well. But, next time. I would consider as a teacher, you should know where my skills are best suited.” 

“Thank you. I will remember, next time.” Professor Eisner said with finality, before going on their way, the swish of their coat and clack of their boots on the steps echoing along, before Hubert made his way to the stables. 

It was not that he found the Princess of Brigid’s company irritating. Strangely, next to her Highness, he found her company among the most productive in the group. She was hard-working and dedicated, and a fierce ally in battle. However, in the past moons, Petra had begun to train in the deadliest of arts. Ones that, if he admitted it, his own diabolical studies. 

“Ah, Hubert. I was starting to worry you would not be coming.” Petra looked up from where she was brushing the pegasi’s mane. It was not her usual battle mount, but an old nag that had since semi-retired. A gentle beast that was patient with more rambunctious students. Hubert may have snuck a treat or two for her, once. As payment for dealing with Ferdinand’s incessant chatter. 

“No need for that.” Hubert stepped forward, and pat the nag’s nose. 

“Mm. Would you like to be riding her for the supply run? I can go with the other one. He is… what is that word…? He has no man parts?” 

“That would be a gelding,” Hubert replied. “Yes, that would be fine.” 

Petra went to guide the other horse, but Hubert had not left the nag’s side to get into the proper gear. 

“Your uniform will be getting dirty if you wear them. Do they not have your size?” 

“I am sure that they do.” Still, he did not move closer, his gaze turning to the wings the nag had tucked against her body. 

“You are being confusing, Hubert.” Petra sighed. “You are acting like prey. I have only seen you act as the predator, waiting to strike in the shadows. Please, can you be telling me what is wrong?” 

Ah, he was in a quandary. 

There would be nothing productive to b gained from lying, and he supposed Petra was not one for gossip. “To be frank--”

“--Who is this Frank?”

“-- No, what I mean is, to be honest, it has always been my dream to ride a pegasus,” Hubert said as the nag nuzzled his hand. “However, I am… unaccustomed to flying.” 

“So, if I am honest, the truth is that you are afraid of heights?” 

“...” Well, she did not have to put it so bluntly, but. “Yes.” 

Petra nodded, before turning back to guiding the gelding to his area. 

Hubert wondered if she would attempt the supply run on her own, before she came back with another set of riding gear. “Then we will share the same horse. I will teach you, and after there will be no need to be fearful of flying.” 

“... I do not think you can ‘convince’ someone out of fear.” Hubert replied sardonically, but Petra continued to look at him, jaw set and eyes bright, and he sighed. “Very well, how do I put on my funeral outfit?”

* * *

Petra gave him instructions and assisted with the necessary belts and harnesses as such, then ran through all the safety precautions. She said that if he could not hold on with his thighs that he would have to hold onto her waist.

“Wouldn’t that simply mean two of us fall to our deaths instead of one?”

Petra smirked. “I am much stronger than you, Hubert. I never fall.”

Hubert wanted to tell her that it only took once, but he nodded his head along. After helping him into the harness, she did the same. “Are you ready?”

“As I will ever be, I suppose.” 

“Right now, it would be best to keep your eyes closed. I will tell you when to be opening.” 

Hubert did not see their takeoff or their ascent, but he could feel the wind hitting his face harder than a spell, and hear the beat of wings that formed a tunnel in his ears. He felt like he was falling, even when they rose higher and higher into the heavens. 

This was wrong, he felt wrong, he did not like feeling this way for such a pathetic reason, which was why he avoided ever trying in the first place. 

“Do you regret this choice? I am mere dead weight in this situation.” He yelled over the howl of the wind. 

“You are not! Now, it is the time for opening eyes. Look ahead, not down!” 

Hubert, reluctantly, opened his eyes. And all he could see was blue and white. The blue of the sky, the white of the clouds, illuminated by the sun’s rays. 

“It’s…” Hubert, strangely, felt at a loss for words to describe it. It was better than a painting. Better than seeing it under the shade of a tree. “Undescribable.” 

“That is the feeling of being free,” Petra answered. “Up here, it feels like the world is far away, and there is nothing that can hurt you.”

Hubert wanted to mention that a well-placed arrow could change that, but that would ruin the moment. 

“And…” Petra’s tone changed, growing softer. “Sometimes, I can imagine seeing Brigid from here. Up here, it does not seem so far away.”

Ah. Even a captive princess held on to such childish wistfulness. 

But then again…

Hubert remembered how his heart skipped a beat as a youth, seeing pegasi dance in the sky, and had to admit that, even under immense hardship, with the drums of war closer than anyone else could expect, some people can still hold a piece of the hopeful child they once were. 


End file.
